Isaac opened the door.
"I see you got a doorbell," Natalie observed.
Isaac grinned.
"You like it?"
"Where on earth did you find a door bell that plays 'Hotel California'?"
"You'd be surprised."
"Uh huh. Speaking of which, why is it you're always the one to answer the door, when I'm here to visit Taylor?"
"Wow... that's right? I am always the one... funny that."
"I thought so."
"Well, anyway, why don't you come in? Taylor's in the living room."
"Cool."
"Umm, before you go... some good news and some bad news..."
"Yes?"
"The good news is that Taylor's no longer under house arrest."
"That's great!"
"The bad news is that Flavian died on Sunday."
"Oh no! Poor Taylor..."
"I mean, he was an old fuzzle, Taylor had him for years - it was his time to go. But y'know... The longer you've had a pet."
"The harder it is," Natalie nodded. "Okay... thanks for the notice, Ike."
Isaac nodded and the two walked into the living room.
Taylor
Taylor looked up when he heard their footsteps.
"Hey Nat," he managed a smile.
"Come sit down. I got our drinks already."
Isaac and Natalie
"Okay, thanks," Natalie said.
"Well, I shall leave you two alone then," Isaac said.
And he left the room as Natalie sat down.
"So," Natalie said, "how's things?"
Taylor
Taylor just shrugged.
"Up and down, as always," he said softly.
He held his hand out for her.
Natalie
Natalie took his hand. Yes... the loss of Flavian had definitely taken its toll. She could heal that, rather easily, but she refrained from taking away grief unneccesarily. It was normal, and she felt that a mourning period could heal better than her power could - as long as it didn't go on too long.
"Isaac told me about Flavian," she said as her power went to work in other areas.
Taylor
Taylor gave her a quick glance, before turning his attention to the doorway.
"I... I guess he would have," he said finally.
"It was... kind of a big thing."
Natalie
"I can imagine," Natalie nodded. "See, I haven't even known you that long, and I know that you had Flav for many years. He was your closest companion."
Taylor
"Yeah, he was..." Taylor trailed off, rubbing his forehead as he tried to think of a change of subject.
"I guess I'll have to go back to Ike now," he joked.
Natalie
Natalie giggled.
"Guess so," she said. "But Ike's not so bad right? At least you don't have to feed him - oh wait..."
Taylor
Taylor almost chuckled at that.
"At least not so much now," he shrugged.
Natalie
"Oh, and you don't have to change Ike's litter box either," Natalie nodded.
She chuckled, a grin on her face.
Taylor
"Now that's a good point," Taylor agreed.
"I do often have to keep him entertained though..."
Natalie
"Well, that's something that comes with all pets," Natalie said. "But that part is usually fun for you too. Much better than having to change the litter box."
Taylor
"True," Taylor smiled a little, but it soon faded.
He took a deep breath, desperately trying to think of another change of subject. One further form where they were.
Natalie
"But anyway," Natalie said, noting the look on Taylor's face. "So, umm... no longer under house arrest, huh? That must be good news."
Taylor
"Yeah," Taylor agreed uneasily.
"Good in one way, downing in another."
Natalie
Natalie chewed her bottom lip uncertainly before answering:
"May I ask why?" she said. "Or is it none of my business?"
Taylor
"Well... it wasn't just lifted for no reason, you know?" Taylor pointed out.
"And the reason I was under arrest was because I didn't want them to find out something that they kind of have now."
Natalie
"Ahh, I see," Natalie nodded. "Well, that sucks."
"Way to state the obvious, Nat," she thought to herself.
Taylor
"Yeah, it does," Taylor said sullenly.
He knew she was trying, he couldn't really blame her.
"So... news on the health spa?"
Natalie
"Oh!" Natalie exclaimed. "I can't believe I forgot! I got a call yesterday, they want me to work in one of their other wings for a couple of days as a trial next week. Not on Tuesday, so I'll be able to visit as usual, just not stay the night, because my first day is Wednesday. I'm doing Thursday and Friday as well."
Taylor
"That's cool," Taylor's face brightened a little.
"See? I told you the reaction would be positive."
Natalie
"Yes, yes you did," Natalie confirmed.
She grinned at him.
Taylor
He squeezed her hand a little.
"Now all you have to do is woo them next week. I bet you'll do just fine."
Natalie
Natalie met Taylor's eyes and smiled.
"Thank you for your vote of confidence," she said. "I really appreciate it. And I'm not just saying that."
Taylor
"Well, you're welcome," Taylor smiled back, not even blushing.
"But I mean it."
Natalie
"Okay," Natalie grinned. "We've established that we're both sincere in our appreciation and gratitude and stuff. Yay."
She gave his hand a squeeze, a twinkle of amusement in her eye.
Taylor
Taylor smiled again, blushing a little, still not quite able to chuckle.
He leant over to grab his drink and took a sip.
"So... how are your parents? Brothers?"
Natalie
"They're all good," Natalie replied. "Nothing overly exciting going on, I'm afraid. Everything is rather dull and boring. Same old, same old and all that."
Taylor
"Cool," Taylor nodded.
"I should really meet them eventually."
Natalie
"Sure, it'll be fun," Natalie replied.
Or at least interesting. Natalie glanced over at the clock and noted that there was still half an hour left.
Taylor
"And now that I can leave the house, we could try and organise it," Taylor suggested.
"Maybe one week I could just come to you instead."
Natalie
"Okay, sure," Natalie said. "Why not? It would be a nice change. And I'm sure you'd enjoy the change of scenary too."
Taylor
"Yes, I'm sure I would," Taylor agreed.
"Speaking of which, I really do need to get out of this house sometime soon. I should go and see if the locals remember me. The ah... the local animals that is."
Natalie
"Really?" Natalie inquired. "You often talk to animals? Y'know other than your fuzzles, of course. Do they make good conversation?"
She knew what his power was, but it never occured to her that he might be friends with the local wildlife.
Taylor
"Always," Taylor smiled, "I always talk to them. They're just more friends and associates, only difference being that only a few of us can talk to them. I guess it'd be like... having a friend in jail or something and only you can talk to them at any certain time."
He hesitated as Christian crossed his mind again.
"Of course it can get controversial at times when they can't understand each other. I often have trouble setting hunting boundaries for certain creatures."
He scratched his chin uneasily, thinking of Ewan and Natalia.
Natalie
Natalie's eyebrows raised.
"Hunting boundaries? What do you mean, exactly?"
Taylor
"Oh I've made a sanctuary zone," Taylor explained.
"There's a few blocks radius - including a large park - where I've enforced that no animals can hunt. A lot take refuge there."
Natalie
"Huh, cool," Natalie replied. "Does it work well? Like, do the predators not hunt there like they're supposed to?"
Taylor
"Most," Taylor nodded.
"But when the punishment is exile they are generally well behaved. There's plenty of area around to hunt anyway."
Natalie
Natalie nodded.
"Cool beans," she said.
She then had to stop to yawn.
Taylor
"Yeah I know," Taylor sighed, stopping himself from yawing as well.
"I just seem to majorly screw up once every few years."
Natalie
"Aww," said Natalie, squeezing his hand again. "Well, I bet that's just because you never screw up the rest of the time. So instead of getting lots of little screwups like the rest of us do, it all comes in one big package."
Taylor
Taylor finally chuckled and shook his head.
"I must admit I've never actually looked at it that way before," he shrugged.
Natalie
"Probably nobody else is an intiuitive as me," Natalie nodded seriously.
Then she grinned musingly, and yawned again. She glanced at the clock.
"Almost time," she said.
Taylor
Taylor glanced at the clock as well.
"I know we haven't really spoken about it," he began awkwardly, "but you said your power worked better if you were massaging, right?"
Natalie
Natalie blushed a little.
"Well, it requires a lot more physical contact than just holding hands. Also it's a lot more central, so it's spreads better. Why do you ask?"
Taylor
Taylor instatly blushed, realising she was going to make him ask it.
"Well... do you want to start that next week? It might take some time off or something," he suggested hurriedly.
Natalie
"Umm, okay, sure," Natalie replied, blushing furiously now that she caught on. "Sure thing. Ummm yes..."
She chewed her lip, caught sight of the clock and latched onto the change of subject.
"Well, time's up. I'll start winding down now."
Taylor
"Great," Taylor began to breathe easier.
"And I guess I'll get lunch started."
Natalie
"Cool," Natalie replied. "What are we having?"
Natalie soon wound down her power and let go of Taylor's hand.
Taylor
"Just salad and cold meat," Taylor shrugged, "it's quite warm today."
He stood up and stretched with a yawn, before grabbing his glass and indicating for her to follow him into the kitchen.
Natalie
Natalie grabbed her glass as well, then followed Taylor.
"Yeah, it is, huh?" she mused. "And it's barely Spring. We are so going to have a hot Summer."
Taylor
"I know," Taylor's eyebrows rose as he went to the fridge.
"And I'm not really looking forward to it either. We really need to get some good airconditioning in the studio."
Natalie
"Yeah," Natalie tilted her head to the side consideringly. "Is it awkward trying to get air conditioning that isn't so loud you hear it on recordings?"
Taylor
"We've had some really good ones," Taylor considered.
"We'll probably end up sticking with something tried and true rather than taking a chance on something we've never used before."
He began to put together a quick salad and got out a few plates.
Natalie
"Cool," Natalie replied.
She took a long drink of her water, before putting the glass on the table and sitting down.
Taylor
"Hopefully," Taylor's eyebrows jumped.
He fussed around a bit more, before bringing everything over to the table.
"Do you want to go and get Ike while I get drinks?" he asked.
Natalie and Isaac
Natalie stood up again.
"Okay," she agreed.
When she didn't find Isaac in the music room, she checked his bedroom. There he was, lying on his bed, his YIRAAS electronic book in hand.
"Whatcha doin'?"
"Huh?" Isaac jumped. "Oh hey."
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Whatcha doing?"
"Going through some YIRAAS newsletter archives. I lost my hardcopy collection when the tornado hit, but fortunately all the issues are now available electronically, so..."
"Ahh I see. Looking up power information?" Natalie inquired, knowing that with each newsletter they had an article about powers.
"Yep."
"Cool. Well, Taylor's serving lunch now."
"Ahh, marvellous."
Isaac put it down and followed Natalie back to the dining room.
Taylor
Taylor nodded to Isaac in recognition before taking his seat.
"Find anything you didn't know yet?" he asked.
Isaac and Natalie
"Yep. And found a few things I forgot I knew for that matter," Isaac nodded.
Natalie giggled and sat down.
"Well, you do do that," Isaac pointed out. "You come across some random piece of trivia and go 'oh yeah! I remember that!' or 'I knew that!'. Actually though, the YIRAAS newsletter does a lot of repeating itself. Well, I suppose that's understandable - four issues a year all with an article about powers. There are only so many powers, so you should expect some repetition. Each one is written differently, of course, but the information is mostly the same. Sometimes they omit things in one article which they put in the next, but omit other details... They don't talk about the rare powers much, though. Let alone the ultra rare ones. You have to dig deeper for information on those."
"Well, there probably isn't as much information available," Natalie pointed out.
"No doubt," Isaac said. "I'm thinking of writing a book, though."
"Another one? What's it about?"
"No, a reference book. About powers."
"Oh!"
"There's plenty of material for one, but there's nothing compliling the information in one easy to access source," Isaac said. "I was also thinking that maybe the best way to get information on the rarer powers would be to actually track down people with those powers and interview them. I mean, who else knows powers better than the one who has them theirself?"
Taylor
"Well you have two of them right here," Taylor pointed out.
"Though I don't think you'd have much luck walking up to someone like Guffery and asking for advice."
Isaac and Natalie
Isaac laughed.
"Yeah," he said. "I'd definitely be hardpressed to get an interview like that."
"I'd like to see you try," Natalie said, then paused. "Actually, no I wouldn't. I don't know all that much about him, but what I do know is enough to want to stay away from him."
Taylor
"We've sort of met him before," Taylor admitted openly.
"It's safe to say I could do without meeting him again."
Isaac and Natalie
Natalie raised her eyebrows.
"My, you boys sure get around, don'tcha?" she observed.
"Yep," Isaac nodded. "Although, Guffrey's place isn't the only place I could do without visiting again."
Taylor
Taylor gave him an awkward glance.
"I agree," he said finally.
"But moving on... What's for dinner? You've been keeping it a secret."
Isaac and Natalie
"Yes, yes I have," Isaac nodded. "And it's going to remain that way."
"So, we're not even going to know when we're eating it?" Natalie asked.
"I may not even let you eat it, it's that secret," Isaac joked.
"That would defeat the purpose of cooking dinner, don't you think?"
"Could do, could do. Well, I guess I'll let you eat it then."
"So, are you going to tell us what it is?"
"Nope."
"Aww, why not? I bet you haven't even decided what you're cooking yet."
"Oh, no, I've decided. I went shopping for ingrediants yesterday, even."
Taylor
"He did," Taylor confirmed.
"And he wouldn't even let me see those when he got back."
Isaac and Natalie
"My, you are being secretive, aren't you?" Natalie mused. "What's the big deal? It's dinner."
"This is my chance to show you guys that I can too cook," Isaac nodded. "I plan to surprise everyone. It's more fun that way."
Taylor
"Well the more tension he builds, the more he has to live up to," Taylor pointed out with a shrug, finishing off his salad.
"Especially with all the persistence that's been happening."
Isaac and Natalie
"This is true," Natalie agreed.
"Don't care," Isaac said, smiling. "I know I'll love it, even if you guys don't. So ha."
Taylor
"Well that kind of defeats the purpose of the bragging," Taylor raised an eyebrow.
"The whole idea is that you're trying to prove something to us that you couldn't earlier."
Isaac and Natalie
"I was making a disclaimer for myself," Isaac nodded.
"Or are you truly having doubts about the quality of your work? One could argue that you're out of practice cooking," Natalie said.
"One could argue anything they like."
Taylor
"...And one would probably be right," Taylor chuckled.
"So what are we going to do until then?"
Isaac and Natalie
"Watch a movie," Isaac advised. "We got all three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies the other day."
"You're kidding," Natalie said with raised eyebrows.
Taylor
"Why would we be?" Taylor chuckled, getting up to take is plate to the kitchen.
"I'll get the fuzzles and meet you in the living room."
And he left to do just that.
Isaac and Natalie
"But... the Ninja Turtles? You guys like the Ninja Turtles?" Natalie questioned.
"Yep," Isaac said, standing. "C'mon, Nat, you can't honestly tell me that you don't like the Ninja Turtles?"
"Well, I -"
Isaac cut her off by 'helping' her off the seat.
"Trust me, by the time you've finished watching them, you'll be saying 'awesome' and 'cowabunga dude' just like the rest of us."
He led her into the lounge room, where he started setting up the first one.
Taylor
Taylor soon returned, the four fuzzles in hand. Well, rather two in hand, the other two on shoulder.
He made himself comfortable on the couch and settled them down, before catching sight of Natalie.
"What's that look for?" he chuckled, "you haven't seen these movies?"
Isaac and Natalie
"Nope. Barely even saw the TV show," Natalie replied. "Which one?"
"Uhh, there's more than one?"
"At least three," Isaac replied. "80's cartoon, modern cartoon and live action version. The 80's cartoon is the best one though."
"Oh, well, umm... probably the 80's one, I guess."
"And that didn't win you over?"
"I may have watched one episode at most?"
"And I ask again: And that didn't win you over?"
Taylor
"You suck," Taylor said straight out.
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the best cartoon series ever."
Then he looked at Isaac.
"When Zac hears about this she won't be able to get him to shut up."
Isaac and Natalie
"Oh, c'mon," Natalie began, "it's just a -"
"Shh!" Isaac said. "Pressing play now!"
He hit the play button on the remote and the movie began.
Taylor
"Bad crime people," Taylor shook his head at the TV, as the three younger fuzzles sat on his legs and stared at the big glowing box in awe.
Meena was slowly making her way over to Natalie.
Isaac and Natalie
"Umm, yes, does the word 'cheesy' come to mind?" Natalie inquired.
"Shush you. We need to fix the deprivavtion in your life," Isaac nodded, intent on the movie.
Taylor
"It does come to mind," Taylor agreed.
"After all, pizza is a prime subject."
Isaac and Natalie
"Yes, but the jokes... the so-called, acting..." Natalie pointed out.
"The jokes are funny, and what else to use except from a family movie?"
"Okay, point taken. Ooh!" Natalie looked down at her lap. "Hi Meena."
Taylor
"But come on, it's Michaelangelo!" Taylor exclaimed, making Dorian grunt.
"You don't diss Michaelangelo. You just don't."
Isaac and Natalie
"Michaelangelo rocks," Isaac agreed.
"Which one is that?" Natalie asked.
"He's the orange one."
"Okay, so who's the grouchy one?"
"Uhh, Raphael? The red one?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah, Raphael."
Taylor
"Leonardo," Taylor pointed at the TV, "and Donatello. Isaac, Taylor, Natalie. Now that we're all aquainted, let's watch the movie."
He started scratching Mya to try and get her to fall asleep.
Isaac and Natalie
And thus they continued watching the movie. Despite Natalie's misgivings, she found herself rather enjoying it.
As soon as the first movie was over, Isaac got up to put the second one in.
"So," he said as he did this, "what did you think Nat?"
"Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," she conceeded.
Taylor
"I believe I could hear laughter at those apparently 'cheesy jokes'," Taylor informed Isaac.
"Could you?"
Mya had fallen asleep in him lap, and he was now working on getting Xanthe to follow suit. However with the movies paused, it wasn't going to work yet.
Isaac and Natalie
"Yes, I believe I heard laughter too," Isaac agreed.
He settled back on the lounge.
"Umm, well, umm," Natalie said. "I'm just not going to respond to that."
Isaac grinned.
"Okay, then. Ready?"
Without waiting for a response, Isaac hit play.
Taylor
As soon as the movie began playing, Xanthe's eyes began to get heavy and Taylor grinned to himself.
"This April's nowhere near as good as the other one," he said decidedly.
Isaac and Natalie
"Yeah," Isaac agreed.
"I think she's fine," Natalie said.
"Yeah, she's okay, but she's not great like the first April."
Taylor
"The first one was hotter," Taylor raised an eyebrow, carefully shifting Xanthe over to her sister so he could get to work on Dorian.
He noticed Meena was beginning to nod off herself, but didn't say anything as she was with Natalie.
Isaac and Natalie
"Not as hot as me," Natalie joked.
Isaac chuckled and gave Taylor a sly look.
"Would you agree with that particular assessment, Tay?" he asked cheekily.
Taylor
"Hey," Taylor raised his hands in surrender.
"No comment. I refuse to be put in that position."
Isaac and Natalie
"What position?" Isaac asked. "Which is hotter, woman from 80's movie or flesh and blood woman sitting with us. Personally, I'd go with the flesh and blood because y'know, she can fight back..."
Natalie poked her tongue out at Isaac, who wore a silly smile on his face.
Taylor
"In the position of getting blackmail material to be used with or for a certain brother by the name of Zac," Taylor rolled his eyes.
"But when you put it that way... sure. I don't need any bruises."
Isaac
Isaac turned his head to stare at Taylor.
"Wow, you are so paranoid," he said. "Zac didn't even occur to me, let alone blackmail."
Taylor
"And don't you get any ideas," Taylor pointed a warning finger at him.
"And I personally think my paranoia is completely justified."
Isaac and Natalie
Isaac opened his mouth to respond, but was interupted by Natalie.
"Oh my gosh! It's Vanillia Ice! I had no idea he was in this," she exclaimed, then laughed. "My goodness, look at the hair."
Isaac chuckled.
Taylor
"I can not believe that you have never seen these," Taylor shook his head sadly.
"I thought it was like... a prerequosite of being born in the 80's."
Isaac and Natalie
"Ner," was Natalie's only response, far more interested in this bizarre appearence of the singer.
Isaac chuckled.
"Well," he said, "we've made up for it now."
And when Vanilla Ice and the band broke into the 'Ninja Rap' song, Isaac felt the need to sing along:
Ninja, Ninja, RAP! Ninja, Ninja, RAP!
GO GO GO
Go Ninja, Go Ninja, GO; Go Ninja, Go ninja, GO!
Go Ninja, Go Ninja. GO; Go Ninja, Go ninja, GO!
GO GO GO GO
"You are such a dork," Natalie said.
"Well, at least I only know the words to the chorus. It would be a bigger shame if I knew the words to the verses as well."
"The chorus isn't exactly hard to remember."
Taylor
"We used to know the verses," Taylor's eyebrows rose.
"We should learn them again."
He gave Isaac a wink.
Isaac and Natalie
"Yeah!" Isaac agreed enthusiatically.
"I thought you just said it would be a shame to know the verses," Natalie asked.
"Since when have I ever let shame stop me?"
"Well, I don't know, Ike, but it would stop most people."
"Most, but not all."
Taylor
"In which small minority, we are gladly included," Taylor chuckled.
He grabbed the remote and rewound to the beginning of the song.
"And what better time than the present to learn?"
Isaac and Natalie
"But I want to see what happens next," Natalie objected. "I've never seen this movie before - you can't just repeat it!"
"So, you're enjoying it are you?" Isaac teased.
"I have this thing about only rewinding if I missed a bit when I'm watching a movie for the first time."
"Well, we missed knowing all the words."
"Hardy ha ha."
Taylor
"Well how about I learn the words and teach them to Natalie, while you go and start getting this secret dinner ready?" Taylor raised an eyebrow at his brother.
"We're not going another movie without food, dude."
Isaac and Natalie
"But I don't care about learning the words," Natalie replied. "I want to see the end of the movie."
She muttered something about the fight scene not even being over yet.
Isaac smiled at his brother.
"Actually, what I'm making takes four hours to cook, and I've already got it started," he said. "You didn't notice that I was away for a rather long time when I went to the bathroom during the first movie?"
Taylor
Taylor gave Natalie an awkward glance.
"Of... course we did," he tried not to look conspicuous.
He pressed 'play'.
"So let's learn these words."
Isaac and Natalie
Isaac grinned, and checked his watch. It would still be, say, an hour and a half before he could add the final touches and serve dinner.
Natalie settled back and watched, hoping that Taylor wouldn't rewind the tape again. The matter of the mutogen had not yet been cleared up.
Taylor
Taylor rewound the DVD twice, before giving up ont he part he couldn't hear properly and letting the movie run through.
"That kid is so annoying," he murmured.
Isaac and Natalie
"Another down point of this movie," Isaac nodded.
"Not nearly as annoying as watching that over and over again. Vanilla Ice was a one hit wonder for a reason," Natalie muttered.
"Plus," Isaac went on, "it doesn't have Casey Jones."
Taylor
"Casey rocks," Taylor agreed.
"I'd skip straight to the third movie, but then Nat wouldn't get her fill."
Isaac and Natalie
"Yes, dang it," Natalie said. "I've watched this movie this far, and by golly I am going to see the end of it."
"You're putting your foot down?" Isaca teased.
"Yes."
Taylor
"All of a sudden it sounds as if she's moved in," Taylor said to Isaac incredulously.
Then he grinned teasingly.
"So what happens if I pause it?" he asked as he did so.
Isaac and Natalie
"Hey!" Natalie objected.
Isaac laughed, and patted her on the shoulder.
"If you want to act like you've moved in, then we'll treat you like you've moved in," he teased.
"Hmph," Natalie replied, folding her arms across her chest. "You're the ones who wanted me to watch the movie, and now you're hindering the process. Make up your minds."
Taylor
"It's just more interesting now that we're no longer forcing you," Taylor pointed out.
He turned to Isaac.
"Should I press play yet?" he asked nonchalantly.
Isaac and Natalie
"I just like to see the ends of movies once I've started watching them," Natalie explained. "Unless it's really, really bad. Like Moulin Rouge. I saw 20 minutes of that and went: 'nup, not watching any more of this'."
"Really?" inquired Isaac. "You watched that much? That's more than I did."
Taylor
"I think that's more than Ike and I put together," Taylor raised an eyebrow, hitting 'play' on the remote.
He sighed as the movie continued.
"Not much longer to go at least."
Isaac and Natalie
They settled down to watch the rest of the movie, which, after a spell, finally ended.
"Okay, me happy now," Natalie nodded, glad to have finally seen the ending.
"I remember when I first saw this movie I thought the two creatures were going to be Bebop and Rocksteady," Isaac mused.
"Who are they?"
"Henchmen of Shreader. One's a rhino and the other is a bore or warthog or something."
"Those guys were a turtle and a dog," Natalie pointed out.
"That's not the point. The point is that I was disappointed they didn't show up. And come to that, I wish they did Crang."
"Who's Crang?"
"He's a brain."
"Umm, right..."
Taylor
"Do we have time for the third movie?" Taylor asked as his stomach growled.
"Or is this dinner going to be ready soon?"
Isaac and Natalie
Isaac checked his watch.
"Nope, dinner has still another hour to go. Which means I'll have to disappear in the middle of number three if we were to put it on now."
"Does that mean we'll have to stop the movie?" Natalie asked.
"It's likely."
"Let's wait until dinner's ready. You have any of those one hour type movies? Or television show DVD box set we could watch an episode or two of in the meantime?"
Taylor
"But my stomach's hungry now," Taylor groaned.
"Can't we have appetizers or something?"
Isaac and Natalie
Isaac looked at Taylor.
"It hasn't been that long since lunch," he said.
"It's been a bit over three hours," Natalie pointed out.
"Yeah, but... eh. Okay, how about I pop some popcorn while we watch something else?" Isaac suggested. "We could probably fit in two or three episodes of Home Improvement or something."
"I love that show!"
Taylor
Taylor sighed dramatically.
"Ok," he relented, careful not disrupt any of the sleeping fuzzles on his lap.
He stared at them for a moment.
"I should probably get these guys to bed in the meantime."
Isaac and Natalie
"Okay," Isaac said. "I'll start the popcorn."
He stood and made his way to the kitchen.
"Do you want a hand with the fuzzles?" Natalie asked.
Taylor
Taylor began the struggle to get his hands under the baby fuzzles without waking them up.
"Ah... just bring Meena," he nodded to her, sleeping on Natalie's lap.
He finally got his hands under them, and carefully stood up and began to head for his room.
Isaac and Natalie
Natalie carefully scooped up Meena, so not to disturb her, stood and followed Taylor to his room.
In the kitchen, Isaac checked dinner - it was cooking quite nicely. He put the kernals into the popcorn maker, and started pulling out the things he would need to finish off dinner with while he waited for the popping to start.
Taylor
"Ok..." Taylor whispered, making it to his room without waking any fuzzles.
He carefully one by one began to place them into the drawer they usually slept in, in the corners he knew they preferred. Dorian stirred, but didn't wake.
He showed Natalie where to put Meena, but soon remembered she wouldn't be able to see with the lack of light in the room.
"I'll show you where to put her," he whispered, taking hold of her wrist and beginning to guide it down.
Natalie
Natalie let Taylor guide her hand and felt her hand touch the drawer.
"Okay," she said softly, "I'm letting her go now."
Gently she moved Meena from her hand to the drawer.
Taylor
Taylor bit his lip for a moment, deciding whether or not to let ehr hand go, but finally did.
When he saw that she'd let go, he helped her up so she didn't hit her head on anything and led her from the room.
"Oh that smells good," he said, after closing his bedroom door.
Isaac and Natalie
"Mmm," Natalie said. "Yeah... I wonder what Ike's cooking?"
"Popcorn!" Isaac called cheekily from the dining room as they passed. "All ready for Home Improvement?"
"Yay, may the antics of Tim Taylor begin," Natalie replied. "What season?"
"We're up to season 3."
"Rats. My favourite season is 7."
"That's not out yet."
"Pity. Mark is a goth that season. Is funny."
Taylor
"Let's go," Taylor insisted, before putting a DVD in and collapsing back into the couch with the remote.
"Ready?" he raised an eyebrow.
Isaac and Natalie
"Yup," Natalie replied.
Isaac held out the bowl of popcorn so that everyone could raid it, as the first episode came on.
Two episodes of Home Improvement later, Isaac stood and made his way to the kitchen to add the final touches, and keep an eye on dinner as it cooked in its last minutes.
Taylor
"Finally," Taylor grumbled as he noticed Isaac disappear, now that all the popcorn was gone.
He turned to Natalie.
"You know what? I think his plan was to starve us so that we wouldn't care what he cooked and we'd eat it so fast that we wouldn't be able to taste it."
Isaac and Natalie
"Wow," Natalie teased. "You must have a very small stomach. It's only 5:30, and you've been complaining about being hungry for hours."
Isaac stirred the meal, then started getting out bowls and utensils.
Taylor
"Because I'm not being fed!" Taylor defended.
"We didn't exactly have a very filling lunch. And I swear he's just drawing this out because he knows the bind I'm in."
Isaac and Natalie
Natalie laughed.
"Well, you're the one who made lunch," she pointed out, grinning.
Isaac checked dinner again, and gave it a quick taste test. He licked his lips in approval and started to serve.
Taylor
"Technically," Taylor held his hand up, "I did not 'make' it, I served it. It wasn't exactly hard to pull things out of a refrigerator and put them on a plate."
Then he hesitated.
"IKE?! Are you done yet?!"
Isaac and Natalie
Natalie chuckled.
"Have a seat!" Isaac called in response. "I'm serving."
Natalie stood and held her hand out to Taylor.
"C'mon," she smiled. "Let's go in."
Taylor
Taylor stared at her for a moment, grinned, took her hand and stood up.
They made their way into the kichen and Taylor held Natalie's chair out for her.
"It's about time," he said to Isaac.
"And now we get to see if it's actually worth the wait."
Isaac and Natalie
"You're just impatient," was Isaac's response.
Natalie sat down on the chair and smiled at Taylor. A few moments later, Isaac came out with a bowl in hand. He put it down in front of Natalie, then went back for the second bowl.
"Mmm," Natalie said, peering into the bowl. "It smells wonderful. What is it?"
Isaac put down the second bowl in front of Taylor.
"It's called Lamb Fricose. It's Greek," Isaac replied, turning to get his own bowl.
Taylor
"Nice," Taylor rubbed his hands together.
"Grace?" he raised his eyebrows at Isaac expectantly.
Isaac and Natalie
Isaac nodded.
"Thank you Lord for this food we are about to partake. Please bless it to out bodies. In Jesus' name, Amen."
"Amen," Natalie echoed.
And they dug in.